Prime Time Freeware for UNIX

The back cover claims that the collection of software is geared towards programmers and users alike. But looks aren't everything; it's what is inside that counts with a package like this.

Editor:
Richard Morin

ISBN: 1-881957-18-7

Price: $50

Reviewer: Preston
Brown

As I unwrapped the package which the post office had
delivered, I was preparing myself for just another carbon copy of
the sunsite.unc.edu archives, or perhaps some other big Unix
software site. However, as I removed the book from the shipping
material and observed it for the first time, I had a strong
suspicion I was in for something much more professional, and thus
useful, in nature.

Prime Time Freeware (PTF) has now changed the format of the
book that acompanies that CDROM to the familiar glossy paperback
cover and standard size that most computer books seem to come in
today, so it should fit in comfortably on your shelf. The back
cover claims that the collection of software is geared towards
programmers and users alike. But looks aren't everything; it's what
is inside that counts with a package like this.

Included Materials

Prime Time Freeware for Unix includes
not only the book, but of course a plethora of UNIX software,
comfortably housed on two ISO-9660 CD-ROMs. The “version” of the
package that I reviewed was 4-2, but since it is updated every few
months, a subscription buying plan is available. New issues will
arrive automatically, and a one-month trial period with a
money-back guarantee is standard. By the time you read this, the
next issue should be out.

The CDs included are filled to the brim; PTF makes full use
of the medium and doesn't skimp. Uncompressed, there is about about
5 gigabytes of information. Because the package is targeted at most
Unix platforms, and is not limited to Linux, there are no binary
packages; everything is distributed in source code form. This fact
alone may turn off some potential buyers, but learning to compile
code is an essential basic of Linux education, and should not
really act as a deterrent.

The book, in addition to acting as good installation and
troubleshooting guide, contains descriptions of all the packages on
the disk, as well as their size and location. An index is included
for easy reference. Finally, a good deal of space is devoted to
describing the nature of free software itself, and it is clear that
PTF is very devoted to the cause of the Free Software Foundation
and independent programmers the world over.

Use and Installation of Software

Unfortunately, I encountered a problem early in my evaluation
of the software, but one that was easily fixed. A slight flaw in
the mastering process of some of the version 4-2 discs made it
necessary to install a patch to the Linux kernel so that the discs
could be successfully mounted. Needless to say, this was a pain,
but the patch was included and was not difficult to install. PTF
assured me that future issues would not have this problem.

Another drawback, while not an inherent problem, can still be
slightly annoying. The PTF discs stick to the strict ISO-9660
format. This means that filenames must comply with the standard
MS-DOS 11 character filenames, with no “funny” characters. PTF's
decision to not use the “Rock Ridge Extensions,” which so many of
us are used to, is a result of a lack of support for the extensions
across all the platforms the package is targeted at.

Once the disc was mounted, I had to run a simple shell script
which set up certain environment variables and the like to
“customize” the disc for the operating system (in this case, of
course, Linux). Navigating the discs to find software I wanted was
fairly easy. Several methods are provided, including a detailed
description database with paths, a more simplified database, and a
HTML hypertext version of the database. A keyword index makes
searching the detailed descriptions fairly easy. Information on
using these databases is all well described in the accompanying
book.

Just about any kind of software you are interested in is
included on the discs, and it is all very
up-to-date as well. For the user, there are databases (including
Postgres and Onyx), archiving and compression tools, simple
spreadsheets, editors and formatters (all flavors of Emacs,
(La)TeX, troff), and graphics tools (data plotting/drawing, image
manipulation, modelers and renderers). For the system
administrator, there is plenty of communications stuff, including
FAX tools, everything you could ever need for email, Usenet News,
and the Athena networking suite.

Programmers will be delighted by the vast array of libraries
(including graphics, GUI, etc.), and there are over 100 compilers
and interpreters to choose from—some familiar, some relatively
obscure. Few people have heard of CLU, but the latest version of
gcc can be had here as well. There are also plenty of debuggers and
profilers, syntax checkers, and the like. The full source code for
X11R6 is here too. Math tools include the popular Scilab and Pari
as well as many others, and for the scientist there is stuff for
astronomy, chemistry, and even geology. Last, several operating
systems (more or less complete) are included, like Andrew from
Carnegie Mellon University, the OSF version of the Mach kernel, BSD
4.4lite, and Condor. Chances are, if you want it, it is
here.

Installation of the packages is fairly primitive because of
the source code format. Packages can be copied to hard drive,
unarchived, and compiled by hand, or a simple included utility can
be used to copy and unpack them. Either way, compiling and using
them is up to you. However, these packages have all been tested and
evaluated by the people at PTF, and would not be on the disc if
they did not work.